First Times, Second Chances

Chapter Five: A Look to the Past

"You told him!"

Harry tried to bury his face into his book and block out his new found Aunt's screams. Apparently, she had been none too happy with Pettigrew, Peter, Harry reminded himself, for telling Harry about her origin in his time. One look at her face and Sirius and Harry both fled down to the basement and tried to busy themselves with books.

"Bloody hell," was muttered and Harry looked up to see Lupin coming down the stairs. "What's all the yelling about?"

Sirius looked unusually sullen. "Peter told Harry about Meri."

Lupin shrugged his shoulders. "What about her?"

"How she's not from our time."

"Oh."

Harry looked over the top of book and took notice of Lupin. Last night he had been wearing a jumper but today he was dressed in a T-shirt which revealed the sorry state of him. He was extremely thin. It looked as if his clothes were hanging on a skeleton. His face was sallow and ill looking. Lines of a hard life were etched into his skin and standing next to Sirius, who was sprawled out on the couch, he looked to be ten years Sirius' senior.

"I'm going out then," Lupin said.

"Fine," was Sirius' response.

Harry watched in amazement as Lupin went back up the stairs. The coldness and indifference between the two men was just another difference that sent Harry reeling. All he could remember is that moment in the Shrieking Shack when he had witnessed that joyous reunion of two friends.

"What's a matter, Harry?"

"Oh, uh, nothing."

Sirius shut his book and sat up. "You look like someone just shattered your dream. I guess I would be a little down myself if I was taken out of my world."

"It's so different here, that's all."

"Lupin's really different, isn't he?"

The question took Harry off guard. He wondered if Sirius was a legitamins and he never knew that about his godfather. "What makes you ask that?"

"Meri used to talk about him a lot when she first got here. She never outright said it, but I had the feeling she had been in love Remus, from her time. The difference between the two left her very shocked and hurt for the first few months she was here. It took her a while to open up to us but eventually she did."

"And then she fell in love with you."

Sirius gave him a lopsided grin. "I should hope so. It would really bother me if she's just settling. But now Remus has his hackles up after sixteen years of having a chance to get his life together and pursue her himself. He had his chance."

"So are you and Meri married then?"

"Not yet and not from lack of trying on my part," Sirius looked up at the stairs. "She says she's concerned about James, doesn't want to bring up bad memories for him and all that."

"You don't believe her?"

"It's been seventeen years, Harry. Would you believe her?"

Harry shook his head. "How long have you been together then?"

"A couple years now," Sirius leaned back on the couch. "Maybe she's just not ready yet and it's as simple as that."

"Unbelievable! Idiots, the whole lot of you!"

Meri's shout carried down the stairs and Sirius turned to Harry with a wide grin. "How can you not love that woman?"

The door that had separated them from the arguing Meri and Peter finally opened and Meri came down the stairs. Her sharp featured face was still flushed with anger.

"Harry, you have my sincerest apologies. I had wanted to talk to you more at length about your time before I said anything."

Harry shrugged. "That's fine."

"Anything left of Peter up there?"

Meri scowled at Sirius but Harry could see a hint of humor in her eyes.

Harry closed the book he had been trying to read and set it on the table in front of him. "So, how can you tell if I'm from your time or not?"

"Just basic comparison really," Meri sat down next to Sirius on the couch. "For starters, in my time, you had been born. Did you ever find out if your father and his knucklehead friends ever had knick names for themselves?"

"Yes, they did."

"When I got here, I found out they had never renamed themselves."

Sirius shrugged. "We never had a need to rename ourselves."

Meri looked at Harry forlornly. "There was never a Marauders map here. Anyway, their nicknames from my time were Prongs, Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail."

Harry nodded. "That's what they were named in my time as well. And there is a Marauder's map."

Meri rubbed her eyes. "It's not a definite way to tell for certain but that's about all the similarities I can come up with."

"Well, uh, how did you get here?"

Meri sat up straighter. "I suppose you would like to know that." She stood up and walked over to a bookcase that situated in a dark corner. Harry watched as she set a small stone bowl on the desk that was on the other side of the room. He didn't even have to see the rune markings on it to realize it was a pensieve. It was slightly smaller than the one in Dumbledore's office but it still held that strange, not quite liquid material.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Sirius came up behind Harry.

"It doesn't take much magic to do this," Meri replied. Harry noticed she was holding a wand. "There's no other way to do this. Maybe I'll see something new this time."

Harry watched Sirius' face and was surprised to see a look skepticism and disappointment. After a few tense seconds, he finally nodded and sat down in the desk chair. Meri touched the wand to her temple and withdrew a long silverly thread that dropped into the pensieve.

"Ready, Harry?"

He nodded briefly and leaned over the bowl. It wasn't long before he was tumbling down into cool night air and his feet hit pavement. Looking around, he found himself standing on the main street of Godric's Hollow. It looked much like the Godric's Hollow he had seen in the time he was trapped in. It looked to be the dead of night and sometime around the fall as some of the leaves had started to change colors.

"Alright then, Harry?"

He looked up to see his Aunt standing next to him. "Yeah. Where are we?"

"Godric's Hollow. Only, this is the time that I came from. You'll see me soon." She pointed down the sidewalk and Harry stared at the shadows until a figure appeared. It was definitely Meri, only with long hair and an unlined face. She was dressed in a jumper, jeans and sneakers and was running full tilt down the sidewalk. As she ran past Harry, he could hear her repeating

"I'm too late, no no no, I'm too late."

Harry turned and saw smoke rising up between two of the houses and realized what night this must have been. He took off after the retreating figure of the young Meri and turned the corner to see what was his parent's house in shambles. The young Meri was standing at the edge of the rubble, shock written all over her young features.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," the older Meri said, coming to stand next to Harry. "I had just been told that Peter Pettigrew had sided with Voldermort and I knew that James and Lily were going to be the first targets. I couldn't believe that I didn't make it in time."

A baby's cry pierced the night, startling Harry. Apparently it was enough to launch the young Meri into action. She scrambled over the blocks of concrete and wood, throwing them aside, yelling Harry's name. She had almost reached the center of the debris when a red light knocked her back and sent her skidding across the pavement.

Harry turned to see Bellatrix Lestrange stepping over the debris. She wasn't as gaunt as he had come to know her though she was still as wild-eyed.

"What did you do to the Dark Lord!" she screamed at Meri as the younger woman was struggling to get to her feet. No sooner did Meri stand up than Bellatrix hexed her again. Harry averted his eyes and waited to hear the thump of a body hitting the ground again but it didn't come. He lowered his arm and watched as Meri had sent a spell in Bellatrix's direction and now the two charms were working against each other, much like Harry's and Voldermort's did in the graveyard.

The crackle of magic in the air was so great that Harry didn't even hear the sound of the approaching motorcycle. It was as if Sirius had just appeared out of no where but Harry noticed the bike laying discarded in the middle of the street. A yellow light jumped out of Sirius' wand and knocked Bellatrix back. Harry watched in silence as the other Death Eaters slowly sunk away into the night now that their leader was unconscious.

It didn't take Meri and Sirius long to start scrambling over the rubble again. They were both crying out Harry's name. Finally, Meri disappeared from sight and stood up with a squirming bundle in her arms.

"Sirius, look at this."

The young version of his godfather hopped across the debris and peered over Meri's shoulder. "What is that?"

Meri shook her head and placed the tip of her finger on the baby's forehead. "It looks like a scar."

"Do you know what it means?"

"I think so but I want to be certain before I voice anything."

Harry watched as Sirius held onto Meri's arm as they maneuvered their way through the destruction. Harry could see the tears that were running down Meri's face. Once on the street, she turned and looked back at the rubble.

"We're, uh, we're going to have to," her voice quavered, "to dig them out."

"Remus and I will take care of that."

Harry went to ask where Remus was that night but the older Meri pointed up to the sky. There was a full moon shining down. Sirius went and picked up the motorcycle. Harry could see scratches on the black paint from where he was standing but Sirius didn't even take notice.

"We can't stay here," he said, swinging his leg over the machine. "We've got to get him someplace safe."

"Wait!"

Harry jumped at the thundered exclamation. He could see the massive form of Hagrid running down the street towards them. He came to an abrupt stop when the ruins came into view. The half giant's mouth worked but no sound was coming out. Meri, still cradling the baby walked over and patted Hagrid's arm with her free hand.

"Say it ain't true."

Meri sadly shook her head. "Sirius and I are Harry's godparent's. We need to get him someplace safe. If you could tell Dumbledore-"

"About that," Hagrid looked down at his hands. "He uh, sent me to git baby Harry."

"Get him?" Sirius had left his bike and came to stand by Meri. "What do you mean 'get him?'"

"Dumbledore thinks Harry will be safest with his Aunt."

Meri gave him an incredulous look.

"His other aunt."

Sirius burst out laughing but it actually hurt Harry's ears. There was no humor in it whatsoever. "Muggles? Muggles can protect him better than us?"

"Dumbledore's a great wizard," Hagrid was starting to get angry and Meri laid a hand on his arm again.

"We're not doubting that, Hagrid." She turned to Sirius. "Dumbledore may have the right idea."

"What?"

"It all depends on how," she swallowed convulsively, "how they died. If James was surprised and just killed, then he wouldn't have had a chance to cast a protection charm. I'm thinking that Dumbledore knows something we don't. If Lily willingly died for Harry then yes, he would be safest at his muggle's Aunt's home." Reluctantly, she slowly handed the bundle over to Hagrid. "Make sure he gets there safely."

Hagrid nodded solemnly.

"Here," Sirius rolled the motorcycle towards the giant. "This should get you there quick enough. If you fly high enough, no one will see you. Even if there are more Death Eaters out there, they won't be able to catch you on this."

"But-"

"Give it to Harry when he comes of age," Sirius told him.

Harry watched as Hagrid nestled the bundle in a type of sling he already had draped across his chest before sitting on the bike. He kicked it to life and soon sped off into the night, leaving Meri and Sirius standing in the middle of the street.

"We need to find Pettigrew before he betrays anyone else tonight," Sirius said.

"Where do we start looking?"

"Meet me at the Leaky Caldron in about an hour. I'll go ask around the usually rat holes and see what I can't come up with. Why don't you go check on Remus. I'd like to have all this wrapped up before he changes in the morning."

Meri nodded. "Leaky Caldron in an hour."

Sirius apparated with a loud "pop" and Meri slowly turned back to look at the house, or what remained of it. She took a steadying breath and closed her eyes. Harry caught a slight movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Bellatrix, furious and with up lifted wand. The words "Avada Kedavera" were spit out with such hatred it turned Harry's blood cold. The green light hit Meri just as soon as the "pop" occurred. When the flash faded from view, there was no one in the street.

Before Harry could register everything that had happened, the world was spinning and tilting and he soon found himself standing next to the pensieve in the alternate time dimension he had found himself currently occupying. It took him a minute to get his bearings straight again.

"Well?" Sirius asked.

"Apparently," Meri said as she put the pensieve back on the shelf, "anytime we do something that transports ourselves to another place or time, like using a time turner or apparating, we run the risk of being knocked into another time. Most likely that's due to the Avada Kedavera curse. But once again, I only have my experience and Harry's to go by."

"Any thing to help you get him back?"

Meri tiredly rubbed her eyes. "No, not yet."

Harry watched Sirius' face closely and couldn't help but see a gleam of relief.